28th Monday in Ordinary time

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Galatians 5: 13)

How should we live this Word

Freedom is both a right and an opportunity for us. It is a value that has struggled over time to detach itself from evil and partial interpretations. Freedom understood, not in an abstract sense, must express itself within relationships that are of themselves binding. It is easy that from these contradictions emerge: that which frees me, enslaves you and vice versa. My freedom is always paid for by someone else’s lack of freedom.

And yet, we have been created under the sign of freedom, wanted and determined by the one who created us. We then have the possibility of rejecting these ties. However, in these ties, we are able to discover a new dimension of freedom. We are able to recognize the Creator and choose to keep ourselves in relationship with Him, discovering the possibility of a constructive relationship with all other creatures. It is freedom freed that Jesus proclaims in the letter to the Galatians, that which unveils even our capacity to defend ourselves from every form of slavery.

Lord, the educating community that we daily strive to build, helps everyone, the young especially, to recognize and love their freedom, and then express it in responsible actions of solidarity and service.

The voice of Pope Benedict XVI

Those who renounce everything, even themselves, to follow Jesus, enter into a new dimension of freedom that St. Paul defines as “walking according to the Spirit” (Cf. Gal. 5: 16). Christ has freed us for freedom, writes the apostle, and this new kind of freedom acquired by Christ consists of ‘service toward each other’. Freedom and love coincide! On the contrary, obeying our egoism leads to rivalry and conflict.